Rabat – The High Commission for Planning (HCP) has revealed that the Moroccan population is expected to rise to 43.6 million inhabitants by 2050. The number of seniors of seniors will reach 23.2 percent of total population.
The HCP said they updated the projections of Moroccan population at national, urban and rural levels following international standards.
To reach the predicted number the Moroccan population is set to have an average additional growth of 272,000 inhabitants per year, roughly equivalent to the population of the city of Taza.
According to the HCP, Moroccan demographic growth is predominantly urban, mainly because of rural migration and the urbanization of rural areas.
In 2014, the HCP indicated that Moroccan cities will be home to 60.3 percent of the Moroccan population, and that the rural population would be 13.4 million by 2050.
However, the 2017 update shows that Moroccan cities are actually expected to host 73.6 percent of the country’s inhabitants, with the rural population at 11.5 million.
The active population aged between 15 and 59 is expected to increase up to 25.6 million in 2050 instead of 21.1 million, forecasted in 2014.
The population aged between 18 and 24 years entering the labor market would grow to 4.5 million in 2032 and drop significantly to 3.8 million in 2050, a decrease of 10 percent.
As the number of children under the age of 15 is expected to decrease due to the anticipated decline in fertility, the HCP explained that pre-school enrollment for children aged between four and five will decrease from 3 million to 1 million.
Primary school enrollment for children aged between 6 and 11 years will also decrease from 3.6 million to 3.2 million.
Middle school students aged between 12 and 14 years will move from 1.8 million to 1.6 million, reported the HCP.
